SURFING: Action Cams - Is there middle ground between high quality and low cost?
Hi everyone on HIVE and especially the Sports Talk Social Community - this is a follow-up to the post I wrote when I compared surfing point-of-view (POV) footage that I took from a really "affordable" (ie. cheapest on the market) action camera to similar footage I took from the Go-Pro Hero 8 which was really good, but would be very expensive for me to buy!
You can read that post here: https://ecency.com/hive-101690/@jasperdick/surfing-action-camera-footage-do
I eventually had to give the Go-Pro back to my friend, and got to wondering if there was a happy medium between price and quality. My friend Justin, who is a really good surfer, was willing to lend me his version of an action camera, which he claimed cost about half of what a Go-Pro did at the time he bought it.
Here are the results of some testing:
Max and I smiling and having a chuckle as we listen to a young lady whoop with joy at getting a good wave after struggling to catch one for some time - the atmosphere in the water was uncrowded and friendly and so we had all cheered her onto the wave that you can see coming to an end in the background - so far the footage quality looks pretty good!
Here's Max starting to ride a wave - again I think the footage is pretty good
Oh dear - I was surprised by this because the footage looked quite good as I played it in real time, but now every time I pause I see that there are parts that more are in focus (eg. the water below me) and parts that are not (eg. the moving wave to my left). This only seemed to happen when I was up and riding a wave, and probably had something to do with adjusting to the motion?
Perhaps I am wrong and that was just a smudge that developed on the casing halfway through that surf. So I tried to clean it up nicely for a surf at a similar spot nearby a few days later. This time I let Max be the photographer - he surfs with a goofy footed stance (right foot forward instead of left) and so faces into these left-breaking waves better, where I surf with my back to them - it's the opposite at the right-breaking spot...
At first Max accidentally put the camera in his mouth upside down so that it pointed to his board - this actually made for some great, different footage as a video, but again... every time I paused I struggled to find a moment in focus
Max pointing the camera in the right direction this time - it looks okay but it's not really a Go-Pro quality still image!
In case any of you are wondering, each camera has to have its own waterproof camera casing to correspond to its shape and where the buttons are located. I always use my own mouth-mount to screw onto the camera casing so that you are seeing nearly exactly what my eyes are seeing as I surf.
So how this camera do? Well it was actually pretty nice when I was watching the video footage and could send those to my friends no problem. The angle wasn't quite as wide as a Go-Pro, but still better than my cheap "Volkano" and definitely better quality.
My biggest problem? I tried to find this camera on the internet for what it would cost now and had absolutely no luck! There seemed to be no brand name to help me on the camera or the casing. Justin seemed to think it was a local South African brand of camera...
Anybody out there recognize this and what brand it might be? I couldn't find it! (Yes, guitar is another big hobby of mine and the main other topic I post about on HIVE - could you tell by my fingertips?
No clues on the sealed waterproof casing either!
This is how I hold the camera in my mouth. I then put the elastic around my neck and clip the strap to my wetsuit so I have two safe-guards against losing it!
So long story short - for my needs this camera is exactly what you might expect - average price and so average quality. Good enough to send video footage to my mates, but not good enough for the still screenshots I want to add to my stories on HIVE. The final nail in the coffin is I can't seem to find it or a modern equivalent on the internet anyway... Am I going to have to get a real Go-Pro after all? I'd better earn more HIVE! They're really not cheap!
THE END